On 12th January, 2021 World’s four leading Health and Humanitarian organisations UNICEF, World Health Organisation (WHO), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) collaborated to stockpile a global Ebola Vaccine with financial assistance from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
About Ebola Vaccine Stockpile:
i.The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization has recommended 500,000 doses of Ebola vaccine to be stockpiled, as a precautionary measure to the sudden Ebola outbreak.
ii.Currently, 6890 doses of vaccine is available in the stockpile, which will be upgraded to the recommended level in the coming days.
iii.Ebola Vaccine- Injectable single-dose Ebola vaccine (rVSV∆G-ZEBOV-GP, live), Manufactured by Merck, Sharp & Dohme (MSD) Corp.
iv.The Stockpile will be stored in Ultra Cold Storage, in Switzerland and transported to the country in need within 48 hours.
Recent Related News:
i.On December 29, 2020 GAVI(formerly theGlobal Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation),the vaccine alliance nominated Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare as a member on the GAVI Board.
ii.The World Health Organization (WHO) & International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) known as ‘Red Channel Agreement’ for the implementation of Emergency Medical Team (EMT) initiative.
About Ebola:
Ebola was first discovered in Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976.
Initial Symptoms- sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, and sore throat.
About IFRC:
President – Mr Francesco Rocca
Headquarter – Geneva, Switzerland
